I was born, raised and educated in America and practiced dentistry for over 40 years. In this time I have taken for granted the good things that life in this free land has to offer.

In January of 2006, I accepted a two-week mission to provide dental care for school children in Vietnam. I had not expectations of what we would find in this experience. We examined approximately 100 children per day, ages 6-11, and found that 50% of these children had abscessed teeth. This did not include the vast amount of less serious dental disease present.

After two days examining and treating this large number of children, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw myself in a boat with a large hole in the bottom and I had a teacup to bail it out! The words came "You must fix the hole in the hull rather than this futile bailing effort." I immediately understood that if I am to be of any real service to these children, I must prevent the disease rather than treat it. This may be accomplished by educating the educators of children. Children must be taught proper oral hygiene, provided with fluoride that will create stronger teeth, and carious lesious treated with silver nitrate that will sterilize and stop the decay.

We must find institutions and individuals willing to fund this project. That would include the development of instructional DVDs, as well as DVD players for teachers in third world schools. We also need to provide dental supplies that these teachers can provide to the children in the schools.

This is a project that could be carried to any third world country simply by changing the language of the materials and the tutorial prevention DVDs.

I strongly feel that anyone promoting this endeavor will provide a great benefit to the health and well-being of children who otherwise will continue to suffer in pain and dental disease.

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BORN IN SAN FRANCISCO, BUT I LEFT MY HEART IN VIETNAM by Linda Moreau, author of Da Nang to Memphis

I have been to Vietnam 6 times since 1996.

My brother has been Missing in Action (MIA) since January 8, 1973. What started as a personal mission to build my own little bridge of peace has become a labor of love. In April of 1996 I went to Vietnam, found the crash site and paid my respects to Mickey. I knew then that I would be back!

I feel in love with Vietnam and the people. My 1997 trip was both personal and humanitarian. After reading When Heaven & Earth Changed Places, I decided to ask Le Ly Hayslip if she needed some help. My admiration for Le Ly and my love of her homeland proved to be the beginning of my Vietnam ventures.

In June of 1997 I took a doctor to Da Nang to meet with a group of Australan doctors to perform foot surgery for disabled children. Le Ly's East Meets West Foundation in Da Nang put us in touch with the Vietnamese Orthopedic doctors and together they performed miracles. I was astonished to see all the children with deformed feet. They could not walk or wear shoes (if they were fortunate enough to afford them) and my heart broke over and over again as the parents begged us to help their children.

While the doctors worked, I had my own agenda. I was looking for my brother's Vietnamese wife. It had been 24 years since his helicopter was shot down near Quang Tri and he vanished. Many told me that it was impossible to find someone after so long, but I found my brother's Vietnamese wife and son. As soon as I met Hong Thi Chau I knew why my brother loved her and wrote about her so often. They have become so dear to me that I cannot imagine my life without them.

With that in place, I started to focus on dental missions. In 1999, I brought a dentist, an assistant and a nurse to schools in the DaNang area. We traveled everyday to a new location, treating 60-100 children a day. We extracted so many teeth! The sad part is that we were only able to treat a fraction of the children with serious dental decay. Most of the children were mentally retarded and there were a delight. When the children could not come to us, we went to them. They were curious, loving and apprehensive and grateful, not to mention beautiful.

I made a few more personal trips to Vietnam. In May of 2005 I stayed in the village of Chu Lai for 3 weeks with my sister-in-law. To say that it was an experience would be an understatement. I encountered 3 deaf children, one of who stole my stole my heart. His name is Hung and he is now 11. I would like to have an annual "Field Trip" and take 6-8 of our stateside children to a village in Vietnam. What an eye-opener it would be.

I knew that another "mission" would soon be launched with me at the helm again. I had to help Hung, I just could not get him ourt of my mind.

In November of 2005 I once again contacted Le Ly Hayslip to tell her that I had met this wonderful dentist and his assistanjt that were anxious to help Global Village Foundation. After being involved with her first foundation I knew that I wanted to work with her again. Global Village Foundation's staff set everything in motion.

On January 15, 2006, Nick (my husband), Helen Wilson (my 81 year-old mother), her friend Helen Hollis, my friend Mai Craft, Dr. Ralph Duffin, his wife Pat Duffin, Dora Beck (dental assistant) and Les Gutches (Dora's fiance) and myself landed in Ho Chi Minh City. For most it was their first trip to Vietnam.

Two days later we arrived in Da Nang. Le Ly and staff had arranged everything. We just showed up and went to work. The "action plan" was written, the children were ready, and I finally got to meet Le Ly! We moved from school to school, village to village, and worked with hundreds of children who had never seen a dentist in a lab coat before. These remarkable children were happy and willing to let us pull their teeth out; they never complained or cried. Le Ly invited us to join her and be a part of her Bridge of Peace. I said "I thought you would never ask!"

By the way, I took Hung for a hearing test and bought him two hearing aids. $500 and I changed a life! It seemed so easy, but for the Vietnamese families with handicapped children it was only a dream.

We CAN make dreams come true.

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